Thanks for your reply K. There is no doubt in my mind that you guys are doing it all for the right reason. You have a receipe that works.

One factor that is important to my eyes is that there seems to be culture in the UK supporting club gigs. Furthermore, it is not far from countries that are still fairly large rock markets, with people who are still regular concert goers (Germany, Holland) and for whom it is not too expensive to travel to the UK. The culture and traditional more loyal fan base found in Europe in general vs. the more 'flavour of the month' attitude prevailing in the US, probably also plays a role in your success. In Europe, people would still tend to go see "smaller" bands they remember from their teenage years if they can or support genres mostly played in clubs (blues, jazz).

Trying to do the same in the US is way riskier as I do not believe one could count on the same level of loyalty. Look at Toto: they can hardly book a tour in 2,000 seats venue in the US but they are packing arenas all over Europe!

FF through hard work, and modesty (you never seem to want to chew more than you can eat), have found the right balance. It may be an exception to the rule, but it works. The stars have aligned for you at the level you are working. You need a bit of luck but everything you and your team have achieved is 2000 % deserved.

What I am trying to say is that wanting it and doing it with all your heart is not sufficient to be successful. There are plenty of other factors that need to be managed and assessed, not least the location. For me the US is definitively not the right place to do it.

My take, considering the amount of quality bands coming from that country and the easy access for all European residents, is that a very good location to organize MRF3 would be Sweden.